California's MetroLiner is Green, Not Groundbreaking

As reported by Autoblog, a 65-foot MetroLiner CNG bus has recently appeared in LA and was immediately pronounced the longest bus in California. As attention-grabbing as they may be, articulated buses (buses with a third axle and a harmonica-like...

As reported by Autoblog, a 65-foot MetroLiner CNG bus has recently appeared in LA and was immediately pronounced the longest bus in California. As attention-grabbing as they may be, articulated buses (buses with a third axle and a harmonica-like joint in the middle) are not that novel. They are very common in Europe, the Middle East, and Canada. In fact, you don't even have to travel abroad. You can see many of them right here in San Francisco, Philadelphia, Seattle, or Washington, DC.

Maximizing passenger capacity of buses is a green no-brainer and should be standard practice in every major city. One of the oldest and most well-known makers of articulated urban buses is a Hungarian company Ikarusbus. As a child, living in the former Soviet Union, I rode on these Ikarus "harmonica" buses almost every day while both countries were still behind the 'iron curtain'.

Running on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), most Ikarus buses are powered by either straight or V-configuration 6-cylinder engines and are only 5 feet shorter than the "wondrous" MetroLiner. Ikarusbus even sells them here in US (probably under a different name) via NABI, Inc. Here is the American version on the left.